Cameron Johnston is a man of his word. With The Maleficent Seven, he promised readers The Seven Samurai/The Magnificent Seven, but with villains, and that’s what we got. With The Last Shield, he promised readers Die Hard, but gender-flipped and in a castle.
What we get is, in fact, Die Hard, but gender-flipped and in a castle.
In more detail: this is set in a castle built atop a vault containing a bunch of immensely powerful and dangerous ancient artifacts. The bad guys (including both external marauders and traitors from within) lure most of the garrison away, kill whoever is left, and have a couple of days to get past all the magical protections of the vault and steal the artifacts before the garrison realizes the danger and returns. Luckily, the commander of the palace guard was recovering from an injured leg and was missed during the initial takeover. So she has to slink about the castle, taking out invaders and working to rescue the Lord Regent who has been captured because they need his blood to open the vault.
The result, like the original Die Hard, isn’t something that’s going to change you to the very core of your soul, but it’s a hell of a ride.
I particularly liked how Bronze Age this was. In practical terms it isn’t really any different from most fantasy, but it gives a distinctly different aesthetic to the entire thing.
My only real complaint about the book was how long it took to really get to the meat of it. Once the castle was invaded and the Die Hard-ing (Dying Hard? Not sure how to verb that) started in earnest, this was fun. The prelude to that part was fine, but I feel like it could have been compressed.
Content warning for graphic violence, and lots of it.
Yippee ki yay, motherfuckers.
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